Man arrested on suspicion of pushing woman off platform at Osaka train station

Police in Osaka have arrested an unemployed 28-year-old on suspicion of attempted murder after he allegedly pushed a 63-year-old woman off the platform onto the tracks at a train station in Osaka's Naniwa Ward.

The suspect, Akihiro Hai, was quoted by police as saying he pushed the woman but didn't intend to kill her. However, he has denied pushing the student and said he never even touched her.

Police said that Hai has a mental disability and that he will be examined to to determine if he is responsible for his actions.

The incident occurred at around 5 p.m. on Sunday at JR Shin-Imamiya Station. Fuji TV reported that the woman said she was waiting for the JR Kansai Line train when a man behind her suddenly pushed her back and she tumbled onto the tracks. An oncoming train managed to stop two meters from where the woman was and she was uninjured, police said.

Police said that shortly before the incident, a female high school student, five meters away, on the same platform was shoved in the back by a man. The girl, however, managed to regain her balance.

Following the second incident, the male suspect moved to another platform and managed to flee the scene by getting on a train. Images from a security camera show the man wearing a dark blue training outfit. He appeared to be in his 20s and of medium build.

Police said the man was reported missing by his family in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture. He was taken into custody late Sunday night in Aichi Prefecture after failing to pay his bill at an Internet cafe.

Hai's mother told reporters that her son had stopped taking his medication and she had asked police to look for him after he left home.

Dec. 12, 2016
02:02 pm JST

Dec. 12, 2016
02:08 pm JST

Ever more reason to build more barriers at busy train stations. I used to think those were only for suicide prevention, but with all the drunks and jerks like this guy out there, it could really improve safety

Especially in places like Shin-Imamiya that are not particularly in the most reputable part of town

Dec. 12, 2016
02:16 pm JST

Dec. 12, 2016
02:21 pm JST

I live in Osaka and I can tell you, it's very rare, but sometimes you get people shoving you for no apparent reason like when the train arrives and before the door opens, or when there's plenty of space to move around the train but someone shove you when they pass by you... since 90% of the cases are middle aged bald salaryman I always wondered if they are either sociopaths sad with their lives or plain racists bothered with your presence. Or both.

Dec. 12, 2016
02:23 pm JST

If the general person here did something when someone is being attacked/accosted here, the guy would not have run off to do it a 2nd time. The train stopped 2 meters away, that's attempted murder. But I can imagine the usual 'it's not happening to me, so I don't need to do anything' attitude from people as they stood there like stunned mullets and pretended not to see anything. Luckily this one didn't turn out as another headline...

Dec. 12, 2016
02:28 pm JST

Dec. 12, 2016
02:38 pm JST

Typical Japanese reaction.

Sadly, this is a typical reader reaction. However, based on personal experience and years of reading news stories to the contrary, I do not think this is a 'typical Japanese reaction'. People saw a woman get pushed off the platform and one can imagine people naturally were first looking at the woman who had been pushed. This could have easily given the suspect time to flee before anyone had a chance to grab him. This could happen the same way and has in any country that has trains.

Dec. 12, 2016
02:44 pm JST

If you have been to that station, you won't be so surprised. As real estate prices in Nishinari increase, and day worker flophouses turn into backpackers, the homeless are pushed here. This is not the best place for young or old women to go.

Dec. 12, 2016
02:46 pm JST

No. This is the typical reaction of someone who has been living here long enough to see the constant turning a blind eye to things, including but not limited to the safety and wellbeing of others. I applaud those rare few in Japan who do stand up for others in their time of need. Japan needs more of them.

Dec. 12, 2016
02:47 pm JST

Dec. 12, 2016
03:13 pm JST

backscratcher: "Sadly, this is a typical reader reaction."

No, the poster is correct. Trust me, anywhere else, unless it was EXTREMELY crowded, and the guy would have been subdued by others and caught. There are cases where this happens here, but generally it's the "see no evil, hear no evil" until the news crews come out and everyone says they saw what happened and were scared. Lest we forget the shinkansen where they ENTIRE train car saw the woman get dragged into a bathroom and raped and did nothing. This guy will do it again until someone has the gall to take him down, or he gets caught by blind chance. Thank god the woman was not hurt. This the is the reason I am always wary about people standing behind me on platforms and check my balance. I know it's paranoid, but your read about this kind of thing far too often. The guy is probably just your typical nutbag who 'wanted to see what it felt like' to push someone in front of a train.

Moderator: Please repost without the reference to the shinkansen rape case, which is not relevant. It's also best if you do not make generalizations. You were not on the platform, so you do not know what happened.

Dec. 12, 2016
03:39 pm JST

Dec. 12, 2016
03:42 pm JST

Sadly, this is a typical reader reaction. However, based on personal experience and years of reading news stories to the contrary, I do not think this is a 'typical Japanese reaction'. People saw a woman get pushed off the platform and one can imagine people naturally were first looking at the woman who had been pushed. This could have easily given the suspect time to flee before anyone had a chance to grab him. This could happen the same way and has in any country that has trains.

Exactly.

Don't listen to the usual naysayers who, without fail, blame a supposedly 'apathetic' Japanese society for doing nothing to save this person.

With information on the internet so easy to find, how DO people on sites like these continue to make ridiculous claims about Japanese society? A casual Google search of incidents like these online shows a long list of similar incidents in America. In fact, last December, 58 year old Ki Suk Han was pushed onto a subway in New York by 30 year old Naeem Davis during an argument. There was an up to 90 second time window from when Han was on the tracks, to when an approaching train pinned and killed him. 90 seconds. A New York post photographer was widely criticized for taking a sensationalist and grotesque picture of Han's last seconds, instead of making an attempt to rescue him.. Even worse, there were other bystanders closer to him that did nothing.

The classic bystander effect, which is found the world over.

Truly, some people have no shame, and continue to needlessly slander the nation and its people.

Dec. 12, 2016
03:45 pm JST

So he just casually got on a different train and nobody did anything. I'm sure plenty of people saw this. Typical Japanese reaction.

Well it's a typical human reaction. Contrary to armchair warrior's belief, when incidents like this happen, the overwhelmingly huge majority of people are not quick to react to the matter. Apprehension of subjects by the general public is the exception, not the norm.

Dec. 12, 2016
03:51 pm JST

Dec. 12, 2016
04:29 pm JST

Strangerland: "Well it's a typical human reaction. Contrary to armchair warrior's belief, when incidents like this happen, the overwhelmingly huge majority of people are not quick to react to the matter."

Not quick to react when a person pushes or is pushed is one thing, however there are quite a few examples where people here have done nothing for very long, very extended periods of time and just pretended they didn't see. Anyway, thank goodness the woman was okay and the train stopped in time. Ridiculous that the man was not caught at the next station, though.

Dec. 12, 2016
04:54 pm JST

1: No one has said "I hope this lady got treatment at the local hospital" she must have been shaken quite badly by this event. Well I hope she was looked after.
2: Put up the picture of the Alleged criminal on here so that someone might be able to identify him.
3: How about reporting this to the NHK TV station? so that they could put up his picture on TV. some one will know who he is.
4: Charge him with.....Attempted Manslaughter, (or Japans equivalent)

Dec. 12, 2016
05:16 pm JST

Not quick to react when a person pushes or is pushed is one thing, however there are quite a few examples where people here have done nothing for very long, very extended periods of time and just pretended they didn't see.

Dec. 12, 2016
05:24 pm JST

A former co-worker here in Tokyo once said he was pushed while waiting for a train at a suburban station during the morning rush hour. He said he was standing in front of a bunch of other commuters when a hand suddenly came out of nowhere and shoved him on the back while the train was coming in. A good karate man, he twisted his body to thwart the impact of the push. He said when he turned around to see who had shoved him, everybody just stared ahead as if nothing had happened. And he never did see the pusher.

So ... what I learned from his experience, don't stand in the front of a crowd of people waiting for a train to come in to the station. Try to place yourself somewhere behind that front line. Even if it means not getting a seat ...

Dec. 12, 2016
05:50 pm JST

Dec. 12, 2016
06:46 pm JST

There was an article a few years ago stating that 27% of adults have some kind of mental illness. That translates to, one in three people (including the non-diagnosed) have the potential to push you off the platform. I never stand at the front on a busy platform, just for this reason. Glad the lady wasn't hurt. The outcome could quite easily been a lot worse.

Dec. 12, 2016
08:16 pm JST

@backscratcher

"Typical Japanese reaction"

Sadly, this is a typical reader reaction

In my own experience (fortunately I've only seen one such dangerous event in 15 years here) everyone except for myself did exactly nothing. Some strange drunk guy starting pulling a cleaning staff towards the platform edge with a train coming. For absolutely no reason I might add. Everyone else: stand, stare, no action. Didn't even yell for help or anything. Just stood & stared. I think typical is a fair call.

Dec. 12, 2016
09:53 pm JST

I think typical is a fair call.

The quote was 'typical Japanese reaction'. Meaning the supposed reaction of the surrounding people would be atypical in other countries. I am unconvinced of this. No one in this discussion so far has convinced me otherwise. You mentioned you saw one (1) dangerous event and you have decided to use that as a base with which to judge over a hundred million people. That doesn't fly with me and it is sad that it would fly with anyone.

I would like to retract from my previously made comment that comments such as yours are typical of readers here. Actually, a lot of the people in this very discussion feel the same as I do. What I find sad is that some of you have not managed to get to know enough people here to know that they are people just like everywhere else in the world.

I wonder if those claiming a unique Japanese trait to avoid helping others would be the same people to complain if someone were to claim Japanese were unique in some positive way. Would you then be trying to claim that people in other countries were just the same?

Dec. 12, 2016
10:35 pm JST

A lot of people mentioned why no one stopped him. He immediately ran to another platform and hopped on that train. People were focused on the victim who was almost killed! Those on the other platform may have noticed a commotion, but wouldn't have known what happened.
Some of the commenters asked why his photo wasn't posted and that they hope he gets caught. He did get caught. It happened at 5pm Sunday...he was caught that very evening.

Dec. 13, 2016
09:04 am JST

Dec. 13, 2016
11:04 pm JST

Police said that Hai has a mental disability and that he will be examined to to determine if he is responsible for his actions.

He doesn't need an examination.The muppet knew what he was doing.The same ol',same ol' tired line of mental
issues is the defense,eh? Most of us have some issues or other,but it doesn't mean you need to go trying to kill someone.